


Cues and Descents

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Young Americans [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-15
Updated: 2012-11-15
Packaged: 2017-11-18 18:24:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/564063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So this is what not talking about it anymore looks like?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cues and Descents

**Author's Note:**

> I dont know how much of this universe I will write but I'm having a blast so far.

“Hi.” Dave smiled as he put down his lunch tray.

“Really?” Ursula Kent looked at him. Her nose was turned up slightly.

“Oh c'mon Ursula, I don’t smell or have cooties. Lemme sit down.”

“The latter hasn’t been proven.” She shook her head.

“You can sit down David.” Erin held back her snicker.

“Thanks, I appreciate it. How are you?”

“I'm alright.” Erin paid more attention to her pizza than to him. Usually she packed her lunch, her mother balked at the idea of her eating all that processed junk. But it was pizza day and Joanna let her indulge in pizza day. “How about you?”

“I'm good. I was a little disappointed that we weren't able to talk last night.”

“I turned in early. I'm practicing and memorizing my monologue for the Shakespearean Soliloquy Festival so I've been busy. I turned my phone off.”

“I texted you this morning.” Dave said.

“I didn’t get a text.”

“Your eyes shifted to the left and you just blinked profusely Erin.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you're not telling the truth.”

“You do that Sherlock Holmes stuff a lot.” Ursula said.

“They're called cues.” Dave said. “All human beings have them. It doesn’t make them good or bad, it just makes them human. If you say you didn’t get my text then I guess you didn’t get it. I did send it.”

“I really didn’t.” Erin shook her head. “I'm not meaning to do any cues.”

“That’s the beauty of them. Most of the time people aren’t meaning to and they do them anyway. Maybe we can talk later. I can walk you home. Its raining and I have a big umbrella.”

“Maybe.”

“OK.” He smiled. “I'm gonna go and eat with the guys.”

“Bye David.”

Ursula smiled and waved as he got up from the table. Dave went over to the table where some of the other boys were sitting. There was Jason Gideon, who was his best friend, Donnie Sanderson, Adam Kurzbard, and a bunch of other boys.

“Do you like him?” she asked her best friend.

“No.” Erin shook her head.

“I think I’d be more convinced you're going to dye your hair purple and run away to join Girlschool.”

“What's Girlschool? I mean I like David in the grand general scheme of things, you know, but I don’t _like him_ like him.”

“He likes you.” Ursula said. “He's a little shameless about it.”

“I don’t know about shameless.” Erin said.

“Oh he is definitely shameless. If you don’t like him Erin, you should let him down gently. Do it when he walks you home later. And I've got to educate you on music. Girlschool kicks ass.”

“Can we not talk about it anymore? I mean we can talk about Girlschool but not David. He's just another boy we go to school with who walks me home sometimes.”

“OK.” Ursula nodded as she drank her fruit punch.

For a while they were silent at their table. The lunchroom at The Biddle Academy was as active as ever. There were kids everywhere, jumping from table to table, engaged in all kinds of conversation. There were other kids talking at Erin and Ursula’s table as well. They rambled on and on about current music and plot lines of popular TV shows that were probably too young to watch. Erin and Ursula didn’t talk much about those things. Ursula seemed to forget music went on after 1995 and Erin’s parents didn’t let her watch a lot of TV.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” Ursula asked.

“Like what?”

“C'mon, is Rossi your boyfriend?”

“So this is what not talking about it anymore looks like?” Erin countered.

“I'm your best friend…we need to talk about it.”

“He's not.”

“He’s clearly trying to be. He’s trying really hard.”

“I don’t like David Rossi. Well what I should say is that I don’t _like him_ like him. It’s not as if he's a horrible human being. He’s alright.”

“It would be OK if you did _like him_ like him.” Ursula said. “Most of the studies show that we began to pair off at this age…some studies say even earlier.”

“David and I don’t have anything in common.” Erin replied.

“Then what do you talk about when he calls you at night?”

“We just have random conversations about stuff. I admit that he's an interesting boy.”

“He's an interesting boy…oh OK.” Ursula gave her the OK sign.

“You haven’t paired off. You said we pair off at this age but you haven’t. I mean neither have I but you definitely haven’t. Have you?”

“You are so not turning this one around on me.” the brunette teenager smiled.

“I'm just asking. I'm your best friend and showing concern for you.”

“I'm touched, Strauss. I really am. Big head boys aren’t my type.”

“What's your type?” Erin asked.

“I think it might be redhead girls.” Ursula said.

“Oh. So is that why you're always looking at Rachel Harding in the gym? I mean she's only in seventh grade but she’s cute and is definitely a redhead girl.”

“You're awesome, you know that.” Ursula smiled.

“I did know, as a matter of fact. But thanks.”

Ursula pulled her ponytail and they went on eating their lunch. Erin stole glances at Dave, who was having quite an animated conversation with his friends. The few times he looked at her, she looked away. Ursula smirked every time she did it. She’d never seen her best friend not like a guy so much in her life and the girls had known each other for a long time.

***

“What Shakespearean soliloquy are you memorizing?” Dave asked.

They walked to the corner 21st and Spruce where their school was. He held out his hand and Erin took it. That made him smile. Huddled under an umbrella was nice. It wasn’t pouring anymore but the rain was steady. Spring had been in Philly for a week but for the most part it still felt like winter. Dave looked forward to leaves growing back on trees, baseball in the park, and a windbreaker instead of a winter coat.

“The requirement is that it be over 15 lines.” Erin replied. “I chose Tamora’s first speech from _Titus Andronicus_ , Act I Scene 109.”

“Who?”

“It’s Shakespeare’s bloodiest play. Most people believe its Macbeth but that’s not the case. It was also his most reviled for centuries but has recently come back into favor. I happen to find it disturbing but a fascinating study of human behavior. Most of the tragedies are about descents into madness. I think Tamora is one of his most powerful characters. My father might lose it when he hears me speak her words though. He's totally against my reading or watching violent things or anything sexual in nature. It’s a bit old-fashioned but I love him anyway.”

“I'm sure he's going to be really proud of you.” Dave said.

“The festival is sponsored by the University of Penn; he's a professor there. They do the soliloquies for middle school and high school. I won third place for middle school last year. This year I plan to win.”

“I’ll read the play so that I know what you're talking about. I honestly never heard of it. What’s it about?”

“It’s about war, savagery, and revenge. You can get the Cliff’s Notes online.” Erin said.

“I think I can handle it in its original form. I'm a pretty smart guy.”

“OK.” Erin nodded. “I really was tired last night…I was studying the soliloquy. It has to be perfect.”

“It’s OK. Do you like movies?”

“Doesn’t everyone like movies?”

“A bunch of us are getting together tomorrow to hang out. We’ll probably go to The Gallery, hang out in the food court, see a movie maybe.”

“I can't.” she shook her head.

“Why?” Dave asked.

“I have fencing practice from eleven to two.”

“We can do it after that.”

“I don’t think it would be very appropriate for me to hang out with a bunch of boys, David. Not that I want to anyway.”

“Oh, I get it.”

“Do you?” she looked at him.

“Yes. I know what they say about girls who hang out with a bunch of boys. If anyone ever said that about you I’d beat the hell out of them.”

“Thank you.”

“You're welcome. What about next weekend? I’ll just bring Jason and you can bring Ursula or someone. It’s not a double date, I promise, just a bunch of kids going to the movies.”

“I don't know…my parents are…I'm too young to date. I don’t care what the studies say.”

“What studies?” Dave asked. “It’s not a date, Erin. We’ll just be hanging out. Friends hang out all the time. I won't even make any boyfriend jokes despite the fact that it’s clear you're smitten with me.”

“I’ll see.” Erin hid her smile.

She wanted to say yes. She didn’t exactly want to go on a date with him but hanging out at the mall was something kids her age were supposed to do. Erin loved all the activities she was involved in. She loved fencing. She loved Shakespeare. 

She loved debate too; couldn’t wait to get to high school so she could join the team. But sometimes she wanted to do the things that regular teenagers did. It was OK being different. Erin didn’t feel deprived. 

OK, sometimes she felt a little deprived. Surely her parents would be alright with her going to the movies. They never minded her hanging out with Ursula. It would be a lie not to mention David and Jason going but it wasn’t a date. She could just say friends and leave it at that.

“I’ll understand if you can't but it would be cool if you could. No pressure, just hanging out and having fun on a Saturday afternoon. You can even pick the movie if you want.”

“ _Tell No One_ is still playing at The Ritz. That’s not far from The Gallery. Do you like foreign films?”

“Do movies starring Bruce Lee count?”

“Oh David…”

“I'm just joking.” He grinned. “I don’t think I've ever seen a serious foreign film but I bet Jason would love it. It might be fun; something new to try. Do they have popcorn at The Ritz?”

“Yes, it’s a movie theater.”

“If you can come with us we’ll go and see it then.”

“Its rated R though so I don’t know if we’ll get in.” Erin said.

“You underestimate my charm.”

“You overestimate your charm.”

She stopped walking at the corner of 15th and Spruce and Dave stopped with her. He knew she lived about another half block, having no idea which one of these overpriced condo buildings was hers. He figured her mother still waited for her in the lobby and that’s why he couldn’t walk with her. Maybe she just didn’t want him knowing where she lived. Erin Strauss was a tough nut to crack. 

Now he knew she was into Shakespeare and fencing. He already knew some things about her from their phone calls. This was just something new to add to the list. She also liked foreign films. He didn’t know too many 13 year old girls who liked foreign films. He knew Erin was awesome…she proved it more everyday.

“So I’ll see you on Monday?” he asked.

“Yes, I’ll see you.”

Erin reached into her bag and pulled out her umbrella. Walking from under Dave’s, she put it up and turned the corner. Dave watched her go as he always did. They hadn't shared a kiss since her birthday. He bought her a great silver necklace with an initial pendant. 

Erin didn’t know how to handle that. She knew it was impolite to turn a gift away. She didn’t want him thinking that taking it meant she was going to be his girlfriend. Erin was still trying to figure it all out. She liked herself just fine but no boy had shown interest before. With the host of other things filling her time who knew when she would figure out exactly how to handle this change on the horizon.

***


End file.
